"I didn't expect you to recognize me."
Damian raised an eyebrow.
"It looks like Sird sent you my information a long time ago."
Damian casually adjusted his coat. He was not very surprised. To be honest, he was already fairly well-known by now. Team Rocket already had influence across four regions. As Team Rocket's boss, it was only natural that someone like Cyrus had heard of him.
Team Rocket?
Sheena looked confused. Was Team Rocket some kind of group? Well, Sheena stayed at the Michina Ruins all year and almost never went outside, so she clearly did not know what kind of team Team Rocket was.
Still, Sheena did not think too much about it. Damian had to be a good person. After all, even Champion Cynthia was with him, right?
But when Cyrus heard Damian's words, his expression changed slightly. His eyes flickered.
Had Sird been exposed?
That was Cyrus's first thought. Deep down, he did not believe Sird would betray him. She was a subordinate who had followed him from the very beginning. For the sake of Team Galactic, she had even gone all the way to Kanto to work as a mole.
Sird would never betray him. Never.
"What did you do to Sird?"
Cyrus's voice dropped. To him, Sird was a very valuable subordinate. She was far more important than someone like Jupiter, who still was not complete in his eyes.
"What do you think?" Damian looked at Cyrus with clear surprise. This guy was not shocked at all? Then Damian suddenly understood.
"Hahaha!" Damian burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?"
That laughter was full of mockery. Cyrus's anger rose at once, and he questioned Damian with a cold face.
"Sorry. It's just that your reaction really doesn't fit the situation. Don't tell me you actually think I exposed Sird as a mole?" Damian slowed his breathing and looked at Cyrus with a smile.
Cyrus's brows tightened.
"That's not what happened. Sird came to find me on her own. She told me who she was, and then she surrendered to me."
The corners of Damian's mouth rose high. His white teeth showed, but with the smile on his face, he looked especially threatening.
"Impossible!" Cyrus shot back almost on instinct.
"Nothing is impossible. Compared to a leader as twisted as you and a useless Team Galactic, anyone with ambition would know which side to choose," Damian said mockingly.
"What did you say?!"
"You arrogant brat! How dare you look down on Team Galactic!"
"Damn it! He's insulting us!"
"What kind of trash is Team Rocket anyway?!"
The moment Damian said that, Jupiter and the Team Galactic elites behind Cyrus all glared at him in fury. Some of the hotter-headed ones were already close to losing control.
"Nonsense." Cyrus stared at Damian coldly.
"You're trying to drive a wedge between us. How ridiculous. Sird contacted me just yesterday..." Cyrus let out a cold laugh. He felt he understood now. Damian was clearly trying to shake him. Sird had contacted him just yesterday. How could she possibly have betrayed him?
Beep, beep, beep.
At that moment, Cyrus's communicator rang. He pressed the button, and an anxious voice immediately came through.
"This is bad, Boss! We've been ambushed! A group of people suddenly rushed out and attacked us!"
"Please send reinforcements, Boss!"
Hearing that, Cyrus's eyes changed again. An ambush? He looked at Damian and saw him smiling. It was as if Damian had expected this from the start. Cyrus's gaze turned cold and grim. An ambush meant this really was a trap.
So Damian had not been talking nonsense. Sird really had betrayed him.
"Tsk. That look on your face is pretty scary. But don't be so angry." Damian's smile grew even wider.
"Sird is very capable. A smart person knows which side to join, so don't blame her. There's nothing strange about leaving a leader like you."
He really liked Cyrus's expression right now. It was genuinely entertaining. One moment, Cyrus looked like he had seen through everything, and the next, his face was dark as if he had just taken a major loss. It was hilarious.
"Heh... heh heh..." Cyrus let out a hollow laugh, as if it were being forced out of his throat.
"You're just a small man enjoying a brief moment of success. Even if this is a trap, so what?"
Cyrus returned to his usual blank expression, but his voice was clearly colder now.
"There are only two of you here. Do you really think you can beat me?"
That was right. There was no need to panic. Sird really had stabbed him in the back and taken advantage of the trust he had placed in her, but it did not matter. The only ridiculous thing here was Damian's arrogance. Did he really think just the two of them could stand against so many people on his side?
"As for that traitor Sird, I'll deal with her sooner or later," Cyrus said in a chilling tone.
Sird, that short-sighted fool. The moment she chose to betray him, she had already marked herself for death.
"You really have no idea where your confidence comes from." Damian looked Cyrus up and down in amazement.
"You're a stronger piece of trash leading a bunch of ordinary losers, and you still look proud of it."
Damian's mouth was as sharp as ever. At the very least, Cyrus and his subordinates were all breathing harder now. Being called trash and losers over and over again, this guy really was infuriating.
Cyrus found that his heartbeat was speeding up from anger.
"I'd like to see what kind of skill you have to act this arrogant."
Even so, Cyrus's control over his temper was clearly well-trained. Even with Damian openly provoking him to his face, Cyrus still managed to hold it in.
"You're not worth fighting." Damian stretched lazily. As for personally fighting Cyrus, he really had no interest.
Cyrus's aura turned even colder. Just as he was about to order Houndoom to attack Damian directly, several loud explosions suddenly came from behind him, forcing him to pause.
"Boss, there's an ambush behind us!" Jupiter's expression changed.
"I know." Cyrus's facial muscles twitched slightly. How could he not understand?
Cyrus stared hard at Damian. Should he retreat now? Rationally, yes, he should leave at once. After all, this was a Team Rocket trap. Who knew what else was waiting?
But Cyrus was unwilling.
Sird's betrayal and Damian's mockery were pushing his emotions closer and closer to the edge. These disgusting feelings were exactly what he hated most, but he had to admit they were affecting him.
"Boss, should we pull back first?" Jupiter saw the dark expression on Cyrus's face and forced herself to make a suggestion.
"No rush," Cyrus said calmly. He opened another Poké Ball, and Weavile appeared in front of him.
"I'm going to finish this guy off first." Cyrus glared at Damian, and his tone was heavy. Jupiter bit her lip and sighed inwardly. But since this was Cyrus's decision, all she could do was obey.
Damian noticed Cyrus's gaze. He shrugged and slowly walked toward Sheena and Kevin.
This guy. Cyrus's eyes turned ice-cold. Even now, he was still acting this arrogant?
"Houndoom, use Flamethrower..."
Just as Cyrus gave the order, a beam of draconic light blasted toward Houndoom. It was Hydreigon.
"Flamethrower!"
Houndoom turned and fired a roaring stream of flames in response. It crashed straight into the incoming Dragon Pulse.
Boom!
Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse collided hard in midair. After a brief stalemate, Flamethrower overpowered Dragon Pulse and kept pushing forward. Hydreigon immediately beat its wings and dodged to the side, barely avoiding the flames.
"Tch. Your reactions are fast."
A bright, lively girl's voice rang out. Cyrus looked to the side and saw several figures walking over. The one who had just spoken was a girl with hair buns.
"So this is the boss of Team Galactic? He really does look pretty imposing." Drayton sized Cyrus up with obvious curiosity.
"This is the final boss of the mission. A Champion-level Trainer." Hilda remained serious.
"It's fine. Even if he's Champion-level, he's definitely not beating all of us!" Rosa said confidently.
"Rosa's right. We're all famous trainers too. It's not impossible for us to beat one Champion." Drayton agreed at once. He thought Rosa's words were full of spirit.
"As long as we catch him, Team Galactic won't be a problem anymore." Platinum opened her Poké Ball and sent out Empoleon, her starter Pokémon.
During her travels this year, she had run into Team Galactic several times. Their actions were obviously the actions of Team Galactic. Sinnoh did not need a group like that.
"Let's stick to the plan. We all attack together, and we split the merit for beating Cyrus evenly." Drayton also sent out Archaludon.
Rosa, Hilda, Platinum, Drayton, and Kieran had already discussed this after accepting the mission yesterday. Today, they were going to take on the boss together.
And Cyrus was obviously that boss. For Rosa and the others, who had not yet reached Champion-level, Cyrus was still a serious opponent. But as long as they worked together well, they believed their chances were high.
"I see. A bunch of brats?" Cyrus narrowed his eyes slightly. His cold gaze swept across the five of them.
"Heh... heh heh heh..."
A low laugh escaped from Cyrus's mouth. He was clearly laughing out of sheer anger.
"He really does look down on me, sending a bunch of kids to deal with me."
"Hey, hey, hey. I'm not letting that slide. What, you're looking down on us?" Rosa was instantly annoyed.
"To deal with someone like you, Damian doesn't even need to move, okay? Who do you think you are? You actually want to fight Damian?"
"We can take you down ourselves."
Rosa clearly knew how to provoke people. Cyrus had been successfully baited.
"With just you?" Cyrus's face was cold.
A bunch of green kids, and they thought numbers alone were enough? Cyrus slowly straightened his back. The Poké Balls in his hands were ready. His gaze swept across the five of them one by one. Even in a one-against-five fight, Cyrus still felt the advantage was his.
"This guy really is arrogant," Rosa could not help saying.
"He's the boss of Team Galactic, and he's not weak. Don't let your guard down." Hilda rolled her eyes and reminded her.
"Relax. I won't rush in blindly."
"Then let's go with the plan."
Even though it was the first time the five of them had teamed up, they seemed to have decent chemistry. At least for now.
Damian did not join the battle. He walked to the front of the temple gate, grabbed a chair, and sat down right there. Unfortunately, there were no melon seeds for him to snack on.
"Damian, are you really not going to help?"
Sheena was stunned. She had originally thought Damian only said he would not help to throw Cyrus off. But now he had actually sat down to watch.
"There's no need. These people are enough to deal with Team Galactic." Damian shook his head. He sipped pineapple juice through a straw.
"Emmm..." Sheena tilted her head. Still, since Damian was this confident, there probably would not be any problem.
"Damian, can I ask something?"
"Go ahead."
"Earlier, Cyrus said you were from Team Rocket. What kind of team is Team Rocket?" Sheena asked curiously.
She really was curious. And to be honest, the way Damian and Cyrus had spoken to each other gave her a strange feeling, as if Damian were actually the villain. He felt completely different from the Damian she remembered.
"Team Rocket is better than most people think," Damian replied with a light laugh.
"Eh?"
"But from the Pokémon League's point of view, Team Rocket is still treated as a criminal team." Damian rubbed his chin.
"Ah?" Sheena froze. A criminal team?
"That's right. The Pokémon League classifies Team Rocket that way. You should be careful around me, Sheena," Damian joked.
Hearing that, Sheena covered her mouth and laughed. But she was genuinely puzzled. Was Damian really part of Team Rocket? That did not seem right. If Damian were really with Team Rocket, then why would Cynthia be traveling with him?
Sheena thought hard about that question.
Wait, was Cynthia part of Team Rocket too?
No, that could not be right.
Of course, Damian had no idea what the guardian girl was thinking. Right now, he was watching the one-against-five battle with great interest. It had to be said that Cyrus did have some skill, but only to a certain extent.
Cyrus's strength was definitely on the more average side among Champion-level trainers. That was clear from the battle itself. Even though none of the five younger trainers had reached Champion-level yet, they were all very strong among trainers at the Elite Four level, especially Rosa, Hilda, and Platinum.
As the battle dragged on, Cyrus was clearly starting to struggle. His mistakes were becoming more frequent. In the end, it was still one person fighting five. When the gap in strength was not overwhelming, numbers were the easiest way for the weaker side to beat the stronger one.
For example, Cyrus was already starting to sweat. He was even considering using Crobat to escape. Otherwise, he might really get taken down by these kids. He was the boss of Team Galactic. Didn't he have any dignity left?
No, I can't fall here. My goals still haven't been reached. Cyrus made up his mind.
Run.
"He'll have something to brag about later. Fighting Rosa, Hilda, and Platinum at the same time is not exactly a bad way to lose. Cyrus, I'm already being generous to you." Damian watched the scene and clicked his tongue in amusement.